Feldman said this latest study included more extensive data on hunter-gatherer groups, like the Bushmen, than researchers have ever had before.

“We’ve just never had enough people represented in our studies before,” Feldman said. “Without the participation of these people, patterns of evolution within Africa can’t be determined.”

So, the new study provides “a much more satisfying answer,” he added.

Henn explained that populations in southern Africa have the highest genetic diversity of any population, suggesting “this might be the best location for (the origins) of modern humans.”

But there are still many other evolutionary mysteries, Feldman said, indicating that further research is ongoing based on the findings of the human origin study.

“There are lots of evolutionary problems that are still to be solved,” he concluded, “and analysis of DNA is our best chance to solve them.”

The scientists have analyzed and continue looking at variations in the individual nucleotide bases that make up DNA. They have genotyped 650,000 such individual changes or “single-nucleotide polymorphisms” in people from 25 African populations.

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